Chapter Twenty-Two: Awakening

Kumo: Time to up the ante for this story. Plot Digivolution go! Sorry about the long delay, but now we’re back!

Hawk: ... Maybe.

+_

Jade’s eyes snapped open as she heard a roar. She groaned, lifting her head slowly and then remembered she and Cayden had fallen asleep while they’d been gathering firewood. The roar reverberated in her eardrums again and it sounded like it was coming from camp. “Get up,” she urged, pushing Cayden forcefully and then breaking into a run back towards their campsite.

“What’s going on?” Cayden mumbled, rubbing his head. He had a feeling he had told Jade something he shouldn’t have last night and it was probably down to those strange berries he got from Iontramon.
“Come on!” Jade yelled from a distance.
“Coming!”

+_

“Stop it,” Tammy murmured as she felt something drip down her face. “I’m not thirsty...” When it didn’t stop, she slowly opened her eyes. “It’s not funny guy-” She froze as she saw the source; it was a large slobbering black maw. Screaming, Tammy smacked it, rolling out of the way as it chomped its jaws down. She screamed, “Help!”
“What’s Tammy whining about now?” Aiden mumbled sleepily.
“I think it’s real,” Holly said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
“Be careful, Holly,” Blackmon said, standing in front of her.
“Why?” She yawned.
“We’re under attack.”

Aiden rolled over, trying to get back to sleep, as he heard Liomon roaring. The attack had no effect on the huge dog Digimon and he brought his paw down towards Aiden.
“Move!” Jade screamed, pushing him out of the way. The claw scraped her leg but she managed to get up and grab his hand. “Let’s go!”
Aiden looked down at Jade’s leg, feeling sick as he saw the blood dripping from it.

Jade started running while pulling Aiden’s hand, grabbing Holly’s as she went past. Iontramon and Blackmon kept close to their partners as they made their escape. “Spiritmon, you and Faeremon hold him off!” she yelled as Cayden emerged from the trees.
“Liomon, you too!” He panted, rushing after the others.
“Wait for me!” Tammy wailed, running towards them.

“Snap: Wall,” Faeremon began to create a wall out of gold dust to block the escape route while Liomon and Spiritmon faced the attacker.
“Ignite!” Liomon arched her back, unleashing a furious ball of flames from the tip of her tail.
“Wings of Fury!” The flames wrapped around Spiritmon as she spiralled towards the three headed dog Digimon. She crashed against it but simply bounced off and it smirked a toothy grin. “Escape!” Spiritmon yelled, flying back away and grabbing Liomon while the latter protested. She flew over the wall and then Faeremon completed it, giving them a several meter high wall to escape behind.

It was a shame their pursuer knocked it to pieces in a second. “Let me go, I wanna fight!” Liomon roared like a petulant child.
Spiritmon dropped her into Cayden’s arms and then flew ahead of the others.
“We can’t fight something like that!” Cayden yelled.
“I can!” Liomon struggled against her partner’s grip.
“Hellfire!” The three headed dog unleashed a ball of fire from its mouth that was easily taller than all of them and as wide as the Digimon who released it.
“Hot, hot, hot!” Tammy squealed, flapping her arms as the flames gained on them.
“Snap: wall!” Faeremon spun, creating a small thin shield of gold dust to block the flaming ball but it just about managed to stop the attack, disintegrating as the Digimon leapt through the hole in the dust.

Faeremon grimaced and flew straight past all of the others, easily equalling Spiritmon’s speed.
“That’s not good!” Jade yelled as the huge paws tore up the ground behind them.
“How are we going to get rid of this guy?” Iontramon sprinted on all fours alongside his partner, and looked between Jade and Aiden nervously.

“I sorted it; duck!” Spiritmon yelled, waving from up ahead.
Faeremon flew up next to her and nodded to the others. “Quick!”
“What?” Tammy exclaimed but Jade simply grabbed her head, forcing it down.
Spiritmon strained as she and Faeremon pulled back a large branch. “Here’s Johnny!” she yelled, grinning. They unleashed the branch and it swung over the group’s heads, crashing into the attacking Digimon and sending it flying backwards with a yelp.
“Great idea, Spiritmon!” Jade yelled excitedly, executing a flip in jubilee.
“I don’t think it’s safe to stop yet,” Cayden said, running past.
“I agree!” Tammy cried, although she hadn’t bothered to let the others know and was nearly out of view.

“Wait up!” Jade called, chasing after the blonde until she saw the other girl fall over, yelping in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Faeremon yelled, flying ahead with Spiritmon.
“This stupid Digimon tripped me!” Tammy yelled angrily, pouting.
“Tammy, please don’t say you’re getting into trouble again,” Cayden groaned loudly.
“It isn’t my fault!” Tammy yelled back, frustrated.

“Help,” the Digimon stammered as they all ran up behind Tammy.
“You tripped me, I’m not helping you!” Tammy yelled, raising her fist.
Cayden grabbed hold of her arm as he saw the Digimon. “Wolfmon…”

+_

Hawke slowly opened his eyes, still heavy with sleep. He winced as light filled his vision, blinking and turning onto his side. His eyes widened in surprise as he took in the expanse of grass in front of him.

Hawke slowly sat up, looking around himself. He was in the middle of an open field, hills rising up in the distance. Bubbles filled the air in the valley, and he could see the greatest mass of them here gathered around a stream that ran through the area, which he could use for tracking into the hills. There were five small Digimon looking at him.

“Who are you?” one of them asked, looking at him curiously.
“Now, now, children.” The five baby Digimon quickly scattered as a larger Digimon floated down from the sky, she was wearing a pink dress which barely went past her waist, and bright green boots with a yellow floral pattern. Her appearance barely set her apart as Digimon rather than human.

“I hope that they weren’t a bother.” She smiled, her pale white skin creasing at the corners of her warm black eyes. The four leaves growing out of her back seemed to function as wings, flapping.
“No,” Hawke replied, his face twitching into a slight smile.
“My name’s Lillymon, and this is the Valley of Renewal.” She turned, gesturing to the valley as Hawke stood, noticing the grass he’d been lying on looked half-dead.
“When did I get here?” Hawke asked, looking to his feet.
“I found you just outside the valley.” Lillymon turned back, looking slightly worried. “I hope that you’re feeling better. A good friend of mine helped you recover.” Lillymon shook her head, looking a little upset suddenly. “He’s always on the go...”
“The Valley of Renewal?” Hawke asked, backtracking the conversation.
“Yes, it’s a home for all of the baby Digimon and a place for any Digi-egg to be reborn. Any Digimon that is reset appears here as a Digi-egg.” Lillymon turned back to Hawke, smiling broadly. “And I’m the guardian of this place.”

Lillymon froze suddenly, looking directly at Hawke. “You’re a human, aren’t you?”
“Yes?” Hawke was confused.
Sighing, she lost her cheery demeanor. “Great… I hope that doesn’t happen again.” She turned away, her wings flapping slightly. “Follow me.” She began to walk, and Hawke silently began to follow.

+_

"What happened?” Cayden asked as his partner bounded about, looking for the enemy.
“Hawke- Digital Spiral,” Wolfmon muttered, his eyes heavy.
“Let him rest, I think we can find Hawke if we walk the way Wolfmon came from,” Jade said, stroking the wolf Digimon gently.
“I could do with a stroke,” Spiritmon chimed on her shoulder.
“Spiritmon.” Jade rolled her eyes.
“I just want something to eat,” Tammy whined, rubbing her stomach.
“I gotta agree,” Iontramon grumbled, lying down in Aiden’s lap as the boy’s stomach grumbled.
“I could go all day-” Liomon announced boldly but she was interrupted by the sound of her own rumbling stomach.

Everyone laughed but then Tammy turned to Jade and Cayden. “You two didn’t come back last night, did you spend it together?”
“I- err,” Cayden stammered, rubbing his head.
“Yes, alright.” Jade shrugged.
“Why?” Tammy winked.

Holly tried to follow the conversation. “Why’s she winking?”
“I think it’s a ‘wait till you’re older’ moment, again, Holly,” Blackmon explained.
“I think everyone should wait until they’re older.” Jade threw her hands up in exasperation.
“You two did it, didn’t you?” Tammy exclaimed, gasping.
“No!” Cayden protested, turning bright red.
“You did!” Tammy started flapping her arms and gasping, trying to gather her thoughts.

Jade sighed. “Tammy, we just fell asleep collecting firewood.”
“I’m sure,” Tammy said sarcastically, training her eyes on the two.
“Calm down, you might hurt your brain cell,” Spiritmon said, guffawing.
“That wasn’t nice,” Jade chided sternly.
“What’s a brain cell?” Tammy asked.
“I don’t know either,” Holly admitted.
“Me either,” Aiden looked sheepish.
Spiritmon laughed. “I don’t but I think it’s how smart you are!”
“Are you calling me stupid?” Tammy asked, shocked.
“Tammy.” Faeremon placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Whatever, Cayden’s flies are undone,” Tammy said dismissively, pouting.

The others laughed as they noticed and Cayden hurriedly zipped them up but suddenly they heard a roar. “He’s coming back, run!” Tammy screamed, getting up and running.
“Where does she find the energy?” Cayden wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Jade stood up, flexing. “I’ve got no idea.”

+_

“I can’t believe it’s morning already,” Agumon said, yawning.
“Just be careful with Boogeymon, his forces are spreading.”
“I know, they’re nearly ready, I promise.” Agumon winked, covering his mouth as he finished yawning.
“They haven’t managed to complete the digital bond yet, remember?” Richard said, smirking.
“I know-” Agumon paused as he heard a roar and turned to look for the source. “I gotta go,” he said, turning back but he realised Richard had already gone. Grumbling, Agumon ran off. “They left me!”

+_

“I’m sick of walking on this path!” Tammy complained as they walked through an empty town. It was decaying and the shops were empty shells of their former selves. Huge craters and burn marks showed the signs of a battle that had long since happened here. The path they walked through the middle of town was cracked and filled with small potholes and rubble.

“You told us to go this way.” Cayden pinched his nose as he looked up at the dimming sun. He was helping Jade to walk; the wound on her leg had made it impossible for her to continue walking and they had no medical supplies.
“It reminds me of my home,” Holly said happily, skipping along with Blackmon bouncing next to her.
“I wonder how my businesses are doing,” Cayden muttered. “Speaking of that, how long have we even been in here?”
“Days? Maybe weeks?” Jade replied, wincing as the pain tore through her leg.
“The time between the two world’s doesn’t correlate.” Faeremon landed on Tammy’s shoulder.
“Oh yeah, I think Richard said something about that...” Cayden scratched his head.

“Can we rest?” Jade asked, slightly wearily.
“I agree.” Tammy slumped down onto the ground.
“That thing could still be following us,” Iontramon said, looking around cautiously.
“So what?” Tammy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Jade, I’ve got an idea.” Cayden rested her down onto the ground.
“Cayden, I just need a little rest, then we can keep going,” Jade said, blinking weakly.
“If we stop the blood loss then you’ll feel more alert.” He took off his grey hooded jumper.
“What are you doing?” Spiritmon flew down next to him.
“Go scout ahead, we’ll only be a moment.” Cayden slid the jumper underneath the wound on her leg. He moved the two fabric arms around the wound and then pulled them taut, causing Jade to scream in pain.

Tears trickled down her face and Spiritmon looked back angrily. “Jade, bear with the pain.” Cayden tugged it tighter again and causing her to bite her lip in frustration.
“What are you doing?” Tammy said, a mix of interest and haughtiness in her voice.
“Leave him alone,” Liomon purred, standing in front of her partner and wagging her tail.
“Stay out of it,” Faeremon warned, lifting the lion cub Digimon into the air, despite her protests.

“You’re being mean!” Aiden pulled at the older boy.
“Aiden, behave!” Cayden yelled abruptly, causing the boy to recoil, staggering backwards. Tying the jumper into a knot, he turned to see Aiden looking angry and hurt. “I’m sorry, but you have to understand—”
“That I’m just a kid and I don’t get an opinion?” Aiden yelled, tears forming in his eyes.
“I didn’t say that—”
“But you’re thinking it!”
“I—” Cayden faltered. It was true that he didn’t value the boy’s opinion as much as Jade or Hawke’s. Even Tammy’s opinion was above the two children. In business you place the most trust in the most successful company.

“This is why Hawke left, and I wish he’d taken me with him! I wish I’d never met you!” Aiden yelled, his cheeks turning red as he became flustered.
Cayden held up his hands. “Aiden, calm down.”
Aiden clenched his fists.
“Aiden, no!” Tammy exclaimed, leaping up and grabbing hold of the younger boys fist as he swung it at Cayden.

Cayden breathed deeply as he saw that he’d been saved by Tammy, of all people. “Tammy…”
Tammy was straining slightly to hold Aiden back but her face was stern and serious, a previously unseen side of her. “Physical violence solves nothing.”
Aiden tried to pull his arm free but she kept her eyes trained on him and a tight grip on his wrist. He pulled his arm away roughly and Tammy stepped back slowly, realising he wasn’t going to do anything else. “Whatever,” he said, huffing and turning around to walk off.

“Aiden, he didn’t mean to be mean.” Holly placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Aiden.” Cayden stood up slowly as Aiden turned around.
“I’m fine, Aiden, I promise,” Jade said, sitting up and wiping her eyes. The pain that had tore through her leg was receding now and she was, admittedly, feeling better.
Collapsing onto the ground, Tammy grumbled, “I need some lemonade.” Wiping her forehead, she seemed uninterested at the current conversation.
“Aiden, calm down.” Iontramon leapt onto his partner’s shoulders.
“Sorry.” Aiden looked down at the ground and kicked it sheepishly.
“It’s okay, buddy.” Cayden smiled
“The path curves up here,” Spiritmon yelled. “It seems to be going up the hill.” She waved them over.

“I don’t want to know what’s at the top,” Tammy whined.
“It could be a shoe store,” Spiritmon whispered in her ear.
“It could be a shoe store!” Tammy leapt back to her feet.
“Tammy,” Jade muttered but the blonde was already charging up the hill. It towered over the rest of the town and seemed to have a small shrine of sorts at the top.

“Chasing her is becoming boring, when’s it my turn to lead?” Aiden moaned, stamping his foot.
“Rushing into battle is for the foolhardy, Aiden,” Iontramon said sternly.
“But it’s more fun than fixing Tammy’s mistakes.” He pouted.
“I like chasing after Tammy, she always chooses fun places.” Holly grinned.
“At least we aren’t dead yet,” Jade said optimistically with a shrug as they all began to walk up the hill after her.

“Hey, wait up!” a familiar voice yelled.
“I recognise that voice,” Cayden mumbled, rubbing his chin.
Spiritmon flew past his head. “Probably in your imagination.”
“We couldn’t all hear the same thing, Spiritmon,” Jade said, turning to look. She paused and then shook her head tiredly. “We forgot Agumon.”
“We forgot him?” Holly asked with a tinge of sadness and guilt as she turned to look for him.
Liomon purred mischievously. “I completely forgot he was with us.”
“You ran so far,” Agumon said, panting as he reached them.
“Tammy.” Cayden and Agumon exchanged a glance and both sighed and then the group continued upwards.

+_

“Here.” Lillymon spoke, reaching a small circle of pebbles on a slight rise in the valley, the stream trickling around it. The baby Digimon were avoiding the area, never entering the circle of stones. Lillymon stayed on the edge, Hawke standing next to her.
“What is this?” Hawke asked, looking around the small circle. Five Digi-eggs lay in the circle, nestled in small beds of grass and leaves.
“You’re not the first human to have come to this Digital World.” Lillymon spoke sadly. “Five of the last six didn’t manage to make it out. This is them.”

Hawke looked at Lillymon briefly, then back at the eggs. Five identical cream eggs, lying there undisturbed. “That’s all...” he said, his voice quiet.
“There’s no sign of them hatching either. I hate to say it, but I don’t think they’ll ever return. Humans aren’t normally converted into data, there’s bound to be some corruption that prevents them from hatching again.”
“No chance at all?”
“None.”
Hawke chuckled grimly, looking to the ground. He silently stepped into the ring, Lillymon looking at him confused, but not stopping him. Hawke moved to the middle of the circle, sitting down carefully. He smiled slightly, his eyes closing. “Hello again, guys...”

+_

“I’m too scared to go inside,” Tammy grumbled, she’d sat down on a bench that was conveniently located near the top.
“Tammy, you haven’t even seen it yet, it could be fun,” Holly said excitedly.
“I don’t feel like fun, I feel like a massage.”
“You know that bench is made out of Digipoo,” Spiritmon said nonchalantly as she continued past.
“What?” Tammy screamed, leaping from the bench like it was on fire. “Why did no one tell me!?” she screeched, wiping herself all over in an attempt to clean herself.
Spiritmon burst into laughter but Jade shot her a look to stop it. “She was lying, Tammy, come on.” She limped past, neglecting the offer of help from Cayden.

They all slowly walked up the hill, and as the first few broke the crest, Tammy collapsed. “I’m not going inside.”
“Inside of what?” Cayden said, collapsing onto the ground next to her.
“That,” she groaned, pointing lazily to a building that stood before them.

The others, excluding Aiden and Jade, joined her in sitting down but he bounded about excitedly while she continued to climb behind them. Aiden pointed. “It looks like one of those things from Japan - a doo joo.”
“I think it’s pronounced dojo, Aiden,” Cayden said, not lifting his head.
“I’ll lead the way,” he pronounced proudly, beating his chest.
“Aiden, wait,” Jade called, just barely able to see over the lip of the hill.
“Come inside and face me, Digidestined.”

Jade breathed deeply, almost tripping from the shock. “Did you guys hear that?” she asked, looking around.
“Hear what?” Spiritmon looked at her partner quizzically as the others slowly got back up.
Jade listened again, intently, but she couldn’t hear anything. “Nevermind.”
“Jade! Hurry up!” Holly shouted, stretching with the others, excluding Tammy, at the top of the hill.
“I’m coming!”

+_

Hawk: Well look at that, no plot Digivolution. You lie Kumo.

Kumo: I disagree, I think lots happened

Hawk: ... OH! I get you. Oh, and guys? Just a note for the next chapter. We write these well in advance, including the A/Ns. So... the time scale might not look right.